Notifications on your Apple Watch

Customize when and how you get notifications on your Apple Watch, so you can respond right away or check at your convenience.

Where you’ll see your notifications

Notifications go to either your Apple Watch or iPhone, but not both. Learn when a notification might appear on your iPhone, instead of your Apple Watch, below.

If your iPhone is unlocked, you'll get notifications on your iPhone, instead of your Apple Watch.

If your iPhone is locked or asleep, you'll get notifications on your Apple Watch, unless your Apple Watch is locked with your passcode.

appears on your watch face when you get a notification. When you dismiss notifications on your Apple Watch, they’re also dismissed from your iPhone.

See all your notifications

Touch and hold the top of the watch face. You can open Notification Center from any screen.

Wait for Notification Center to show, then swipe down.

To scroll, turn the Digital Crown.

To read a notification, tap it. To read grouped notifications, tap a stack, then tap a notification.

To delete a notification, swipe left, then tap .

You can hide , so it doesn't appear when you have unread notifications. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap Notifications, then turn off Notifications Indicator.

Manage notifications

Your Apple Watch notifications mirror your iPhone settings, but you can customize the settings for each app. In watchOS 5, notifications can be organized by app and grouped in stacks in Notification Center. For example, all your activity notifications can appear in a stack. You can also choose whether or not you get alerts for notifications, so they appear silently or not at all.

Change how you get notifications on your Apple Watch

Touch and hold the top of the watch face.

Wait for Notification Center to show, then swipe down.

Swipe left on a notification, then tap .

If you don't want to hear sounds or haptic alerts for that app, tap Deliver Quietly. Notifications for that app go directly to Notification Center on both your Apple Watch and iPhone, instead of showing you a notification with a sound or haptic alert.

If you don't want to get notifications for that app, tap Turn Off on Apple Watch.

To see or hear these notifications again, swipe left on a notification from the app, tap , then tap Deliver Prominently.

Customize your notification settings

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the My Watch tab.

Tap Notifications.

Tap an app. Different apps have different options. To use the same notification settings on your Apple Watch and iPhone, tap Mirror my iPhone. Some apps allow you to customize your notifications. When you customize, you can choose from these options:

Keep notifications private

When you raise your wrist to see a notification, you see a quick summary, then full details a few seconds later. Here's how to stop the full details from appearing in the notification:

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the My Watch tab.

Tap Notifications, then turn on Notification Privacy.

When you get a notification, tap it to see the full details.

If you don't see notifications on your Apple Watch

When your devices disconnect, your notifications go to your iPhone instead of your Apple Watch. To check your connection, swipe up on the watch face to open Control Center. If your devices are disconnected, you might see , , or . Try to connect your iPhone and Apple Watch.

When your Apple Watch locks or you turn on Do Not Disturb, your notifications go to your iPhone.

When your Apple Watch is locked, appears on the watch face.

When Do Not Disturb is on, appears on the watch face. To turn this feature off, swipe up on the watch face, then tap .

For third-party apps, notifications are delivered only if your paired iPhone is also connected to a network.